Playoff Weekend Preview

Last week I got the Jets' upset and the Cowboys right and, if you begin after the first quarter, I was actually pretty close on the Pats/Ravens game (okay nevermind). The Cards/Packers game was a thriller. The same defense that yielded over 500 yards to Big Ben a few weeks ago got lit up by Kurt Warner, wow.

Week's Most Valuable Player: Kurt Warner
Least Valuable Player: Shayne Graham
Best Team Performance: Cowboys
Worst Team Performance: Bengals
Top Coach: Rex Ryan
Most Disappointing Player: Donovan McNabb

This Week's Games

Saints vs. Cardinals
Arizona gets a similar matchup to last week: a big passing team with a ton of weapons, good running game, opportunist defense. Warner had one of the greatest games a quarterback has ever had and it still took a questionable call in overtime to win. Sean Payton and Drew Brees have also won big playoff games before (Saints made it to the NFC Championship in 2006/07). This game looks to be another shoot-out, and I say the team that wins the turnover battle wins.

Colts vs. Ravens
Colts haven't played well for three weeks and they are playing a physical Ray Lewis-led team that starts out hard and pounds you on the ground. There are a couple matchups here: Colts defense is always poor against the run and the Ravens pound the ball on the ground. The Ravens' secondary is weak and the Colts have a great air game. The Colts will start rusty and I see the Ravens taking an early lead. However, Peyton doesn't exactly struggle in those situations.

Vikings vs. Cowboys
Adrian Peterson reached 100 yards three times this year, and two of those were to the Browns and Lions. He's getting shut down this week by Dallas. That leaves Favre to air it out and the Dallas defense wins that battle. Ware will own the Vikings' line. I think the Cowboys will get a big lead early and keep it that way. People are picking this to be the weekend's best game, I don't think it will be that close.

Chargers vs. Jets
Vincent Jackson takes a visit to Revis Island, but Antonio Gates will pick up the slack and Malcom Floyd will be active, too. Jets have swagger and think they can win. They might be going across country, but Southern California isn't unfamiliar territory for Mark Sanchez. Chargers haven't lost since October. Jets will have a great running game again but if they are trailing by 10+ in the second half they will have to go to Sanchez, and there's no trust with Braylon Edwards.

Saints 38
Cardinals 34

Colts 17
Ravens 16

Cowboys 28
Vikings 17

Chargers 24
Jets 17